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Are China-US relations drifting closer towards war?
- Shadow of Pearl Harbor looms over unfolding Cold War between the two superpowers as tensions mount on many fronts
- Analysts warn there is a growing risk of an unplanned confrontation as relations unravel at unprecedented speed
Reading Time:5 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
This is the first in a series examining the growing tensions between China and the United States and how the situation could escalate into a full-blown military conflict. You can read parts two, three and four here.
When senior Chinese and American diplomats met in Hawaii last month, for the first time in nearly a year, the stakes were unusually high amid fears their acrimonious tensions are drifting imperceptibly towards war.
The secret meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Yang Jiechi, the top diplomatic aide to Chinese President Xi Jinping, took place – perhaps coincidentally – at Pearl Harbor, scene of a pivotal moment for the US and world history when it was bombed by the Japanese nearly 80 years ago.
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The two superpowers have been embroiled in an economic and technological decoupling amid an unfolding new Cold War. Beijing and Washington have engaged in a global blame-game over the deadly coronavirus and are at odds on almost every front, from trade tensions to the South China Sea, Taiwan, Xinjiang and Huawei.
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Worse still, their recent wrangling over Beijing’s imposition of a draconian national security law in Hong Kong has further emboldened hardliners on both sides, accelerated the downward spiral and put the world’s top two economies on a headstrong – and dangerous – collision course.
Unsurprisingly, the two-day, seven-hour meeting between Yang and Pompeo appears to have done little to save their countries’ free-falling ties, or bring about a much-needed hiatus in their rancorous war of words.
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